1 Samuel 17:46

This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(46) I will smite thee.—David reiterated to the Philistine, as he had done to Saul, his certainty of victory, but in the same breath says that the victory will be that God’s whose name the Philistine had just been contemptuously using.

Benson Commentary

1 Samuel 17:46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand — He speaks with as much assurance as Goliath had done, but upon better grounds, confiding, not in his own strength, but in the divine omnipotence, and expecting, through it, certain victory, not only over Goliath, but over the whole army of the Philistines. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel — Superior to all others. Hebrew, That God is for Israel, or on Israel’s side, and against you. Or, that Israel hath a God, a God indeed! one who is able to help them; and not such an impotent idol as you serve.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:40-47 The security and presumption of fools destroy them. Nothing can excel the humility, faith, and piety which appear in David's words. He expressed his assured expectation of success; he gloried in his mean appearance and arms, that the victory might be ascribed to the Lord alone.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A shield - "A javelin," see 1 Samuel 17:6 note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

42-47. the Philistine said … said David to the Philistine—When the two champions met, they generally made each of them a speech, and sometimes recited some verses, filled with allusions and epithets of the most opprobrious kind, hurling contempt and defiance at one another. This kind of abusive dialogue is common among the Arab combatants still. David's speech, however, presents a striking contrast to the usual strain of these invectives. It was full of pious trust, and to God he ascribed all the glory of the triumph he anticipated.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Heb. that God, the only true God, is for Israel; or on Israel’s side, and against you. Or, that Israel hath a God, a God indeed, one who is able to help them, and not such an impotent idol as you serve.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hands,.... Of which he was assured by divine inspiration, by the impulse of the Spirit of God upon him; or otherwise he could not have expressed himself with such certainty, and have given the particulars of what he should do, as in the following clauses:

and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and yet he had no weapon in his hand to do it with, 1 Samuel 17:50, but it was revealed to him that he should do it, and he believed it; though the Philistine no doubt looked upon all this as romantic:

and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; not only this man's carcass, which should fall and become a prey to fowls and wild beasts, but the carcasses of the Philistine army, which fleeing upon the fall of their champion, and pursued by the Israelites as they were, would be cut off, and become the food of wild creatures, see 1 Samuel 17:52; though some think the plural is put for the singular, and that it only means his carcass, who was a Philistine; but the host of the Philistines, carries it to the other sense: and this would be done:

that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel; not only the land of Canaan or Palestine, but the whole earth, and all the inhabitants of it, who should hear of the fall of this giant by such means, and of the rout of the Philistine army upon it; the report of which no doubt was spread far, and near.

Geneva Study Bible

This {p} day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

(p) David being assured both of his cause and of his calling prophecies of the destruction of the Philistines.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

46. deliver thee into mine hand] Lit. “shut thee up.” Cp. Psalm 31:8. “David did not rashly and vainly boast beforehand of the victory, as Goliath had done; but being full of faith praised the divine omnipotence and prophesied of an assured victory.” Patrick.

that there is a God in Israel] That Israel hath a God who is worthy of the name. For the thought cp. 1 Samuel 12:22; 1 Kings 18:36; 2 Kings 19:19.

1 Samuel 17:46

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

David answered this defiance with bold, believing courage: "Thou comest to me with sword, and javelin, and lance; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Saboath, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand; and I shall smite thee, and cut off thine head, and give the corpse of the army of the Philistines to the birds this day ... And all the world shall learn that Israel hath a God; and this whole assembly shall discover that Jehovah bringeth deliverance (victory) not by sword and spear: for war belongeth to Jehovah, and He will give you into our hand." Whilst Goliath boasted of his strength, David founded his own assurance of victory upon the Almighty God of Israel, whom the Philistine had defied. פּגר is to be taken collectively. לישׂראל אלהים ישׁ does not mean "God is for Israel," but "Israel hath a God," so that Elohim is of course used here in a pregnant sense. This God is Jehovah; war is his, i.e., He is the Lord of war, who has both war and its results in His power.